I am a deeply spiritual young woman from India, a mother, a wife, and an experienced dentist who hopes very much to resume her career here in the USA, my new permanent home. As a devote Hindu and a dentist, my calling as a professional is inseparable from my religious sense of duty to others, my communities. I see all of us as manifestations in physical form of a purpose in life; and I see my own purpose in life as that of alleviating human suffering. Early on, for this reason, I focused on dentistry as my calling and the underserved as my principal focus. Since my arrival in America 4 years ago, I have completed several online courses in Continuing Dental Education including CAMBRA (Caries and Management by Risk Assessment) and Clinical Encounters in Pediatric Dentistry.
Your program at XXXX is my first choice due to both its excellent reputation and the fact that it is close by to where I now live in the Bay Area. Despite the fact that I love California and I am profoundly pleased to make this my permanent home, still, much of my heart is back in India. And I want very much to stay in contact with those who are suffering back home in India and those who are doing as much as they can with very limited resources to help them. I hope to make my principal contribution for the long term by engaging in extensive research on behalf of the underserved, particularly with respect to the great scourge of oral cancer that is especially prevalent in India.
My primary inspiration is Mother Teresa. Like Mother Teresa. I cannot tolerate seeing people suffering pain. This is why I became a dentist and I now wish to give my all for the rest of my life to alleviating the pain and suffering of as many people as I can. I hope to contribute to the practice of dentistry and the improvement of oral health in India as well as here in America, especially because of the great need for dental care for the poor in my home country. I already have a well developed, personal special interest in the fight against oral cancer and have been engaged in personal research in this area for years. India has the highest rates of oral cancer in the world, particularly among the poorest sectors of society, and I hope to publish precisely in this area, after completing your program and resuming my practice.
I find myself most intrigued by the significant differences that are found in the incidence of oral cancer in different regions of the world, with the rate of oral cancer 10 times as high in India, for example, than it is in the Middle East. Where oral cavity cancer represents only about 3% of malignancies in the US, to cite another example, it accounts for over 30% of all cancers in India. Most of all, I want to become an expert in the areas of risk factors and hope for primary prevention.
I wanted to be a dentist since I was in middle school. My home across the street from a dental college and I would watch the students entering each morning early in their white aprons. I was a good student and studied hard all through my school years so that I would be accepted to a highly competitive BDS Program and I was. The best three years of my life so far have been 2006-2009 when I had the opportunity to work as a full time dentist and I miss it terribly. I am thankful that my daughter is no approaching school age and that I will very soon be able to throw myself fully back into dentistry.
Volunteer work has always been a pillar of my life, especially as I continued to develop my identity as a dentist, volunteering for numerous camps throughout my college days. We went to remote places like Ullal, the Penambur Villages in Mangalore, always community dental clinics serving the needy; putting a smile back on their faces. The only thing that I have enjoyed as much as my hands-on dental care experience has been my participation in health education initiatives, applying fluorides, teaching brushing techniques and oral hygiene procedures. Since my arrival in California, I have also done volunteer work with CDA (California Dental Association) Cares in Solano, where I was introduced to the underserved in America and able to contribute to helping them with their oral health care needs.
I have also engaged as a volunteer with my daughter’s early education. I feel strongly that perhaps the greatest and most powerful gift that a parent can give their children is to pass on their language and cultural heritage. Literacy in our mother tongue will strengthen her cultural identity and provide her with a rich a profound intellectual and spiritual heritage. Thus, I volunteer at my daughter’s school. XXXX School is a famous, progressive organization that provides an exceptional learning environment that shares global Indian culture and Language. I enjoy teaching every Friday to a group of children 5-7 years old for 2 hours, about my country , my language, how to write, read and speak in Telugu. I teach them about Indian culture and I take great delight in their rapid developmental progress, morally as well as physically. I like to think that I am teaching them to be noble Indian-American adults.
I thank you for consideration of my application to your competitive program.
